How do we perceive the world around us? Everyone knows the answer to this question: with the help of our senses. It turns out that our perception of reality is limited by our senses, restricted or, we might say, distorted to a certain extent.
Many scientists, philosophers, and artists have been interested in this idea and have sought to expand or change the way we perceive the world. The senses – sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell – certainly provide us with information about the world. No one’s arguing. But they have a kind of subjective filters imposed on them.
And everyone has their own limitations and experiences.
So what could be the means to help us expand and change our perception of the world? What can offer new perspectives, evoke different emotions, stimulate thinking and stir up questions in us about whether we are seeing and understanding the reality around us correctly?
It is best to begin this process by introducing the work of Wassily Kandinsky, who used abstract shapes, colors, and compositions to evoke emotions and associations in the viewer, and to show alternative ways of perceiving the world, freed from attachment to specific objects and images.
Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) was a Russian artist and one of the founders of abstractionism. He is considered one of the most important and influential artists of the twentieth century. The phenomenon of his work lies in his contribution to the development and understanding of abstract art. He argued that art should not seek to depict the external world, but to express the inner emotions and ideas of the artist and evoke similar feelings in the viewer or listener.
Kandinsky believed in the power of color, shape and line in emotionally affecting people. One of Kandinsky’s most famous works is the painting Composition VII, created in 1913. In this painting, he uses bright colors, abstract shapes and unusual compositional techniques to evoke strong emotions and convey inner harmony.
Kandinsky was also an active educator and art theorist. He founded and directed the Bauhaus in Germany, where he continued to develop his ideas about abstract art and its impact on society.
His ideas and experiments were truly revolutionary and had a profound impact on the development of modern art. Kandinsky’s work continues to inspire and delight artists and audiences around the world, and his phenomenon remains an integral part of art history.
Wassily Kandinsky created many works in his life. Here are a few examples.
“Miserliness,” created in 1908, is one of Kandinsky’s first fully abstract works. In this painting, the author completely abandoned the depiction of the external world and focused on the expression and emotional impact of color and form. Bright colors and dynamic lines create an atmosphere of tension and energy.
“Yellow-Red-Blue ” is one of Kandinsky’s most famous paintings, done in 1925. In this work, he uses simple geometric shapes and bright colors to create a harmonious and emotional field. The painting symbolizes the interaction of different colors and shapes, as well as the desire for spiritual harmony and balance.
These works by Wassily Kandinsky represent only a small part of his oeuvre. He constantly experimented with color, form and composition, seeking to express his emotions and ideas through the language of abstract art.
A viewer looking at Kandinsky’s paintings can experience a variety of thoughts and emotions. Take a look at his works. How do you feel? Looking for the interplay of color and shape? Or are you trying to understand the idea of what is depicted on the canvas?
Perhaps the bright colors and unusual shapes immersed you in a completely different world and made you empathize? Everyone’s individual interpretations will emerge.
Kandinsky’s paintings provide a space for reflection and interaction, allowing the viewer to enjoy the art and discover new ways of perceiving and understanding.
Now that we’ve enjoyed ourselves visually, let’s try listening to these pictures. Wassily Kandinsky expressed the idea that each color has its own sound. He believed that colors could evoke associations with sounds and music and evoke a much stronger emotional state.
Kandinsky developed a theory about the “synthesis of arts” in which he combined painting and music. For example, he compared the color blue to the sound of a flute or violin and the color red to the sound of a trumpet or drum. Kandinsky argued that colors and sounds can interact with each other, creating harmony or dissonance, and as a result evoke certain sensory responses in humans.
He sought to create a kind of “pictorial symphony” where colors and shapes were the equivalent of musical sounds and melody. “The Sound of Color” is so inspiring and mesmerizing! But that’s not all. Kandinsky also talked about the sound of forms. He gave shapes special importance and argued that they could also evoke associations with musical sounds and rhythms. Kandinsky interpreted various geometric shapes – circles, triangles and rectangles – as “musical chords” or “rhythmic notes”.
For example, he compared circles to soft, sonorous tones, while triangles can evoke sharpness and tension and rectangles can evoke stability and peace. He used these forms and their combinations to create visual compositions that he felt had a “musicality” of their own.
Each of his works is a harmonious visual symphony in which shapes and colors and their interaction evoke certain associations and penetrate deep into the mind, changing our usual perception.
Kandinsky also saw music not only as a sound composition but also as a visual art. He believed that music could create abstract visual images in our imagination and convey emotional states through sounds and rhythms. This is a very important legacy.
The idea of hearing color and seeing sound allows us to expand our perception of reality through unfamiliar sensory sensory modalities.
The art of Wassily Kandinsky and his concepts about expanding our perception of the world invite us to reflect on the limits of our understanding of reality.
It offers alternative ways of looking at the world and raises questions about how we perceive the environment.
We often limit ourselves to superficial perception based on the senses. But by inviting us to explore and expand our perception, Kandinsky reminds us that there is a deeper and more multifaceted world out there. Through the combination of color, form and sound, the artist awakens us to perceive deeper layers of reality that we usually ignore.
Why is this so important to us?
The fact is that deep emotional and intellectual reactions contribute to our spiritual development, allowing us to explore not only the outer world but also our inner world, expanding our consciousness, making our experiences more profound. It resonates within us, allows us to connect to something hitherto unrecognized and opens up opportunities for spiritual growth and self-discovery.
Wassily Kandinsky’s work plays an important role in emotional development, allowing us to open ourselves to true experiences, to consider unusual ways of understanding and interacting with the world, and to find harmony and meaning in our lives and paths to self-improvement.
He saw art not only as a means of self-expression, but also as a means of spiritual regeneration and transformation. For the artist, art had a kind of spiritual mission. He believed that an artist should strive for the highest ideals of art that transcend everyday and material interests. Argued that art should have the ability to inspire, uplift and transform the soul of the viewer – that is, our souls.
Let us perceive the world in a more subtle way! Trying to hear colors and shapes and see sounds! Perhaps we will see the world differently. After all, it is beautiful and made for us!
